Participation in a technological challenge: AI based tactical situational awareness using swarms of small robots and drones is an open funding call implemented as a Lump Sum Grants. The indicative budget is €23M million.
Proposals must address technological solutions to automatically detect and characterise threats in complex environments of ground applications. These solutions must use a combination of advanced sensors, information fusion from these sensors, and unmanned ground and aerial systems to extend detection capabilities. These solutions must also be integrated and managed by operators in an easy and user-friendly manner to facilitate interaction with advanced systems. It must be possible to measure and evaluate the solutions in the test environment set up in the framework of the technological challenge.
Proposals should include clear descriptions of criteria for assessing the completion of work packages. These criteria should include:
(i) the participation in the test campaigns organised in the framework of the technological challenge;
(ii) the delivery of sensor data collected during the field tests; and
(iii) the delivery of descriptions of the systems submitted for testing.
The goal of this call topic is to assess how well AI can support tactical situational awareness in complex, dynamic environments. This will be done by testing the integration of cutting-
edge technologies into unmanned collaborative platforms in realistic scenarios, providing real-time insights to support informed decision-making. The components described below will
be addressed:
(i) Autonomous deployment. Deploying swarms of small robots and drones to gather data in a coordinated and efficient manner.
(ii) Real-time data fusion. Fusing data from various sensors and sources, including visual, radar, acoustic, and environmental sensors, to create a unified, real-time situational awareness picture.
(iii) AI-driven analysis. Applying advanced AI and machine learning algorithms to analyse the fused data, detect patterns, and identify and prioritise potential threats or areas of interest.
(iv) Dynamic adaptation. Adapting to changing environmental conditions, such as weather, lighting, or obstacles, to maintain optimal system performance.
(v) Human-machine interface. Providing an intuitive and user-friendly interface for human operators to interact with the system, receive alerts and make informed decisions, even automatically suggest actions and plans to be validated by the operator. This is expected to improve the operator’s experience when interacting with advanced systems.
Beyond defence technologies, this call topic also contributes to the STEP objectives, as defined in the STEP Regulation39, in the target investment area of deep and digital
technologies.
